Blog Technology-



Hi just a quick introduction as to what Ben, Nic and Matt are going to do for task 8 in EDIC712S2. In this Wiki we are going to investigate the technology behind 'Blogs' and some useful websites to help you learn more about this.


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What is a blog?-

If you have been surfing the web for the past five years or so, you've undoubtedly heard of 'blogs' or weblogs. These personal internet journals have taken the internet by storm. Frequently and written in a personal tone, a blog is a diary or journal where the writer or blogger will write his/her observations on the world or provide links to useful websites. Different bloggers write about different themes, sort of like a newspaper columnist but with no specialized training necessary.


Blog History-

The first blog is said to have been the first website in 1992. Blogs didn't really start to take off until the late nineties and have continued to gain in popularity after 2000. Early blogs were mostly lists of recommended links with some commentary. Sice then they have evolved into something different . Now anyone who fancies themselves as a writer, and even some people who don't can blog on the internet.


Blog Uses-

For some, blogs are strictly vanity projects as they ramble on about their daily observations to family and friends. For others, blogs take on a far deeper meaning and importance. For example, a reporter is tipped to a story by a blog, or a blog reports another angle on a story. Blogs show up in magazines a lot too. They can be used to make political statements, promote products, provide research information and give tutorials. If there's a subject that interest's you then there is a fairly good chance that someone is writing a blog about it.

Blogs written by politicians, musicians, novelists, sports figures, newscasters and other notable figure have been spotted. Because of this, blogs have been the centre of controversy. Since one can write about anything in a blog, complaints about others are commonplace. In many blogs people remain unnamed. Though you can write about anything you want you're not exempt from the repercussions, anyone who makes a controversial statement had best be well prepared to back it up.

How blogs work?-

The following video "Blogs in Plain English" introduces the concept of a blog as a way of every person to have the power to share news and the video includes:

  • How blogs are changing the idea of news in the 21st century
  • How blogs are created and organized
  • The role of blogs in bringing like-minded people together
  • How blogs facilitate conversation







A blog works in the following way:
  • A blog is normally a single page of entries. There may be archives of older entries, but the "main page" of a blog is all anyone really cares about.
  • A blog is organized in reverse-chronological order, from most recent entry to least recent.
  • A blog is normally public- the whole world can see it.
  • The entries in a blog usually come from a single author.
  • The entries in a blog are usually stream of-consciousness. There is no particular order to them. For example, if I see a good link I could throw it into my blog. The tools that most bloggers use make it incredibly easy to add entries to a blog any time they feel like it.

Below is an example of a friends blog he set up in 2006. It is called 'Shotbro' and his mission was to listen to and review 365 albums in 365 days. Hope you enjoy and get some good ideas.


Shotbro

Blog Websites-

Below is a list of possible websites that can allow you to create your own blog. Hope you find them useful.

Wordpress

Blogger

Glogster